


When Dick's Asleep (the little birds are Slade's problems)

by RichardGraysonPercyJackson



Series: The Acrobat and The Mercenary [45]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Bonding, Good Slade Wilson, M/M, Mirakuru Slade Wilson, Protective Slade Wilson, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23088394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RichardGraysonPercyJackson/pseuds/RichardGraysonPercyJackson
Summary: Slade arrives home from a contract to find Dick passed out in the bedroom and an annoying little bird sitting in their living room, wanting help.Rather than wake his husband to do the work for him, Slade lets Dick sleep and deals with it himself
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson
Series: The Acrobat and The Mercenary [45]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1323779
Comments: 9
Kudos: 358





	When Dick's Asleep (the little birds are Slade's problems)

**Author's Note:**

> Bad summary, ah well

Despite their vast differences - some more glaringly obvious than others - one thing Slade and Dick had in common was that they were both very light sleepers.

Once, a thief had broken into their apartment in the middle of the night and the only hing Dick would say about the situation when asked by his brothers was,

“That thief was  _ seriously _ lucky I was there.” all the while, Slade remains impassive behind him. “Or he’d have more than a broken nose to deal with.”

But there are some nights when Dick sleeps like the dead and those are the nights Slade finds himself preferring for several different reasons.

One of which is that he rarely goes to sleep until three or four in the morning, regardless of whether or not Dick is out on patrol. So on nights when it would take something louder than an explosion to wake Dick (an example that is, unfortunately, taken from real life about three weeks earlier) Slade slips out of bed and spends several hours on the couch rather than in bed.

Another reason is when he returns from contracts, he never has to worry about making too much noise in removing his armor because Dick isn’t going to hear it anyway.

A third reason was that he could deal with uninvited little birds in their living room without waking his husband down the hall.

…………………………………………….

“Can I help you?”

“Yeah, actually.”

Slade raised an eyebrow, turning slowly to regard to lock on the front door as he closed it behind him before turning to regard the third of Batman’s children sitting on the couch.

“Did you break in?” he asked.

“No,” Tim replied. “Dick gave me a key.”

Slade heaved a sigh. “Of course,” he muttered under his breath, shaking his head as he made his way down the hall towards the bedroom. “Give me a minute.”

“Hey, make sure Dick’s alive!” Tim called in a semi-whisper. “I tried to wake him up earlier and he barely moved.”

Slade didn’t grant that with any sort of reply as he shoved the bedroom door open and closed it behind himself, peeling his gloves off with his teeth before walking over to press the back of his hand to Dick’s forehead.

“Mm?” Dick grumbled, shifting where he was sprawled over the entirety of the bed, half of his face buried in  _ Slade’s _ pillow, of course.

Slade rolled his eye but didn’t say anything as he continued around the room, taking the time to undress and shower and change into more comfortable clothes before returning to the living room where Tim was waiting.

“Is he alive?”

Slade ignored him. “What are you doing here at two in the morning, kid?” he asked as he walked through the living room to the kitchen, coffee in mind and already knowing this conversation was not going to result in any sleep that night.

“I had uh…hoped to talk to Dick,” Tim admitted as he followed Slade into the kitchen.

Slade rolled his eye. Despite he and Dick being married for a little over a year, his family still danced around topics with him (when they deigned to speak to him at all) as though he didn’t already know every single case Dick dealt with.

“About the MacWell case?”

Tim blinked. “How do you-”

“That’s probably the dumbest question you’ve ever asked,” Slade cut in, raising an eyebrow. “I’m his husband. I know everything about him.”

“ _ Everything _ ?” Tim pressed, narrowing his eyes.

“What did you want?”

Tim huffed. “I  _ wanted _ to talk to Dick about the case.”

“Yes, well, Dick is getting much needed sleep,” Slade informed him. “So if you want to talk to someone, you either talk to me or come back in the morning.”

Tim scowled and Slade could tell if he really desperately didn’t want the information he’d come to talk to Dick about, he probably would have walked out the door.

As it was, he merely went back to the living room, returning with a folder and slapping it onto the kitchen table between them.

“So what’s the problem?” Slade asked as he grabbed the folder and pretended to flip through the pages even though it contained the exact same information as Dick’s folder.

“We’ve been tracking Joseph MacWell and his sons for almost four months,” Tim supplied somewhat reluctantly.

“And the problem?”

Tim scowled at him for the longest time before his shoulders dropped. “We’re missing something,” he finally replied. “They have a lot of power and anyone who so much as accidently bumps shoulders with them if found dead in their home a day later.”

Slade was silent for a few moments. “Give me a minute.” he felt Tim’s eyes on his back as he left the kitchen and slipped down the hall to the bedroom, taking a moment to adjust the blanket over Dick and press a kiss to his husband’s temple before grabbing his phone, scrolling through pending contracts and open contracts before returning to the kitchen, tossing the device at Tim who fumbled to catch it.

“What’s this?” he asked as Slade poured himself a mug of coffee before taking a seat on the other side of the table from the third Robin.

“Pending contracts I can be hired for,” Slade explained. “As well as contracts on the market for any mercenary or bounty hunter to pick up.”

Tim raised an eyebrow. “Your point?”

“MacWell has been hiring mercenaries,” Slade explained. “He pays a high fee to get the work done overnight since he knows most mercenaries-” Slade cocked his head to the side as he corrected. “Most  _ professional _ mercenaries, prefer to take a few  _ weeks _ to get a job done.”

“So...so this…” Tim shook his head as he scrolled through the list before looking up at Slade. “Can I take this with me?”

“No, that’s my cell phone,” Slade replied. “But I can email the information to you, if you’d like. Give you information on how to get access to pending and available contracts.”

Tim narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you helping?”

Slade tilted his head to the side. “Consider it personal.”

Tim narrowed his eyes. “How personal?”

Slade leaned forward as he whispered, “He struck my husband.” Tim didn’t say anything as Slade stood, towering over him to remark, “You’d best take down MacWell before I lose my patience and take the situation into my own hands.”

“Right,” Tim mumbled as he passed the phone over to Slade. “Can I crash for the night? Or, early morning? Just cause it’s a bit late...early...to leave now.”

“I assumed you would,” Slade said instead of giving a straight answer.

Tim nodded, staring up at him before murmuring, “You’re not as bad a person as everything thinks.”

Slade merely grunted. “Go to sleep,” he ordered as he went down the hall to the bedroom.

Tim watched him go and when he must have thought Slade was out of earshot (he’d forgotten the mercenary had enhanced hearing) he remarked,

“You’re good for Dick, I think. And I think Dick is good for you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know your thoughts


End file.
